City moving forward on street project

Partnering with Cloud County Coop Elevator Association and Concordia Terminal LLC, the city of Concordia is moving forward on an improvement at the intersection of First and Lincoln Streets.
The Concordia city commission approved authorizing city manager Amy Lange to proceed with the engineering design for the project that is intended to accommodate right-hand turns of southbound U.S. Highway 81/Lincoln Street traffic onto westbound First Street.
The wider turning radius will accommodate heavy, slow-moving agriculture truck traffic that frequents the intersection.
Cloud County Coop Elevator and Concordia Terminal LLC have offered to contribute 70 percent of the project's estimated cost of $313,000, leaving the city's share of around $100,000.
“It was impressed that the city brought this project back to us to discuss,” Mark Paul, general manager of Cloud County Coop Elevator, said, “This is very manageable for us. It is a good thing for the city.”
Paul informed the commission that since the construction of Concordia Terminal LLC there have been 540,000 trucks come through town, 135,000 came from the north.
“That is just to the terminal. On an average day we have 27 and a half semis go around that corner. That is a lot of traffic. I guess we are lucky, fortunate you might say, that we haven't had an accident yet,” Paul said.
The scale of the project has been pared down in recent years from $2.6 million for a turn lane and improvements to First Street and several intersections along First Street, to $660,000 for a turn lane only to the estimated cost of $313,000 for the current project.
The city applied for funding from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and was denied each time.
KDOT stated that the construction of the overpass on U.S. Highway 18/Lincoln Street should provide sufficient access for all.
It was stated in information provided to the commission by Lange that the turning radius at the intersection of Sixth and Lincoln Streets is not adequate for heavy truck traffic, and requires backtracking to access K-9 Highway, in addition to sending heavy truck traffic through downtown.
The city's share of the project, which is listed as the top priority, would come from the capital improvement projects fund. There was $66,000 budgeted for the local match to the KDOT grant and reallocation of $56,000 for alley paving that was not done as a result of prioritization of TIF funds.
Commissioner Sam Sacco said that he was in favor of the project as long as the city is able to move forward with the other planned street projects.
“As good as the projects are, and they are fantastic don't get me wrong, and they have to be done. But so do our streets,” Sacco said, “The streets we can't keep pushing back over years. They just keep getting worse. That is my only concern.”
Ron Copple, Public Works director, said that the city is still planning on doing a mill and overlay project in 2020 as the same time of the proposed First Street/Lincoln Street project.
The city has a mill and overlay project on Archer Street scheduled for this year.
“We are not pushing any of the projects back,” Copple said.
Copple said he would like to have bids on the proposed project in November or December of this year and have the project started by April 2020.
“I want it done by the time of wheat harvest,” Copple said.
In other action taken during the meeting, the commission approved an application to place a house located at 428 East 11th Street into the demolition program and authorize Lange to sign the contract to reimburse the owner $3,726.34 upon completion of the demolition.
The house was damaged by fire last summer, and was condemned.
The low quote for the demolition was from Dalton Dirt Works of $9,000.
The commission met in executive session for a total of 10 minutes to discuss non-elected personnel.
Following the commission meeting, the commissioners participated in the Concordia Land Bank annual session.
The commission serves as board of directors for the Land Bank.
Placing the properties at 429 East Second St. and 435 East Second St. into the Land Bank was approved.
The property located at 324 West Second St. was sold in January, 2018.
There are currently five properties in the Land Bank.